Of Bulls and Blessings

Written 9.2.08

Today has been a crazy kind of day. After spending the morning home taking care of things and getting things ready for “real life” here in Chiquian, I was able to get on the internet. I kept my time online to 30 minutes so that I could guard some time for Jenny to get online for a while. Sadly, not too long after she went over, the lady told her they were closing because the bull fighting would start soon. I was really disappointed for her. Jenny and I were planning to go but we had heard the bull usually didn’t even come out until after 4pm (even though 3pm is the stated start time).

We left for the bull fight at about 4pm thinking it was at the soccer field. When we got there, there wasn’t a person in sight. Not at the field, not in the town. I finally saw one young man walk into an office and I went to the door and asked about where the bulls are. He gave me a rough idea and we headed back to the house to drop off the truck and get the stroller. Once we finally got to the place (How do you hide 4,000 people in a town of 3,000 anyway?) we learned that we were too late to go in the door but maybe we could see from behind the stadium. So we walked around the corner and saw that there were a number of ladders leaning against the adobe wall that one could climb us so they could see the bull fighting. Obviously with a stroller, backpack carrier and three children we were out. We sort of stood there, stunned that we had missed it, and realizing that there were at least 30 or 40 people staring at us. Then a man says, here come his way and gestures to his ladder. I give Jenny the keys to go home and, with two men’s help, Caleb scales the ladder to the top of the adobe wall. Then I, with Luke in the backpack scale the ladder (I asked Jenny to support me from below as me and Luke together must weigh twice as much as any single person in Chiquian). When we get to the top, we sort of slide down the wall to a wooden platform above the bull ring. I’m getting settled in what seemed like wall to wall people and then I see Elijah being passed up the ladder. They hand him to me and the next thing I see is our stroller! Then comes the diaper bag and last of all Jenny. A team of at least 10 men worked to get us all up the ladder and onto a secure spot.

Once atop, I didn’t feel much more secure than I had on the ladder. Let’s just say the fire inspector hadn’t approved this facility. On top of that, there were a good number of people drinking. We hadn’t been up there ten minutes when Caleb started saying he couldn’t see (in Spanish) and some people let him sit with them so he could see better. He stayed there for the next two hours or so. Then they pass me a dirty and a two liter of a corn drink they called juice to us and Jenny said, “John, drink it.” I proceeded to down about a quarter of a cup of what smelled like old beer. I later learned the drink itself was not alcoholic (but who knows what else had been in that cup!).

The time with the bulls was really fun. The man beside Jenny shared an orange with us and looked after us the whole time. When it was all over he and his girlfriend personally escorted us to a strong ladder and helped us get down. Upon getting down Jenny thanked them and asked his name. When he said it, she recognized it as the name of one of the 4 men that I will be teaching next Monday (he wasn’t there this past Sunday). He was one of the leaders of the church in Chiquian! God put us directly beside a man that we already knew several things about and provided us a personal guide! What an amazing blessing!

After the bullfighting, which the boys LOVED, our new friends walked us home and came in. We had coffee and enjoyed a good conversation. We walked to a local restaurant and I got us plates for dinner (just of $5 for 4 adults). They stayed and talked until after 9pm and offered to come to our house and go with us to see the bulls tomorrow (the festivities will come to a close tomorrow or Thursday I believe). In a place where we stand out like a sore thumb and don’t know a thing about what is going on around us, what a blessing to have someone come alongside us and help us navigate some of these confusing cultural experiences. It is truly an act of God for having put them right beside us! What a blessing!